Inland’s Joe Cosenza Passes Away
Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. has announced the loss of cofounder Joe Cosenza. Cosenza, who passed away at age 81 on Dec. 25, was director & vice chairman of the group and president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions L.L.C., managing the firm’s acquisition strategies and due diligence.
The loss marks a sad bookend to a year that began with the passing of another cofounder, Dan Goodwin, on Jan. 19. Cosenza, Goodwin and fellow schoolteachers Robert Baum and Robert Parks formed the company as a single-family homebuilder in 1968, expanding it over more than 50 years to a diversified commercial real estate powerhouse.
In an interview with CPE following Inland’s 50th anniversary, Cosenza recalled such milestones as the company’s foray into sale-leasebacks with Walmart following the savings-and-loan implosion, a move that ultimately earned the company and its partners back value that would otherwise have been lost. He also credited the late ‘90s growth in brokerage and consequent increased transparency for a rise in sales prices.
Inland has transacted more than $80 billion in deals to date, acquired more than $55 billion, and raised over $30 billion in capital through a range of 834 sponsored investment programs. It has owned hundreds of millions of square feet of commercial real estate and more than 96,000 apartment units, with member companies providing a full range of services, including leasing, property management, development, brokerage/acquisition and lending.
Cosenza and Goodwin met during college at Northeastern Illinois University. Cosenza went on to earn his masters degree from Northern Illinois University, and was a local teacher and then an assistant principal while building up the company.
Over the years, he was active in both the real estate and financial worlds, serving as chairman of the American National Bank of DuPage and a board member for the Continental Bank of Oakbrook Terrace, as well as part owner of American National Bank of DuPage and Burbank State Bank, in addition to being a past chairman and director of Inland Bank & Trust and director of Inland Bancorp Inc. Cosenza has also won many awards over the years, including membership in the Chicago Association of REALTORS Hall of Fame.
Matthew Tice and Mark Cosenza are now leading Inland’s acquisition business, as per the company’s succession plan.
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